Integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing takes on many different steps beginning with fabrication and processing and ending with packaging and testing. In this overall process, one step of the manufacturing involves packaging die into molds for protection. As a wafer of dies is sawn into die size cuts, each die may then be attached to a carrier (e.g., a lead frame or a substrate) with glue or other means of die attaching material. Once attached, a box or snap curing oven may be used to cure the die attach material to prevent absorption of moisture which may lead to die separation from the carrier. After curing, interconnection between the die and the carrier may be accomplished using gold, aluminum, or copper wire. Once a die has reached this point, it may be ready to encapsulate using a molding process.
An encapsulation or molding process is designed to cover the interconnected die/carrier from any damage that may result from a harsh environment or mishandling. Molding may be a map type, single in line type, or a matrix type—techniques that are known in the industry. To accomplish molding, a mold compound pellet (i.e., a convenient starting shape of mold compound material) may be loaded into an encapsulation system. Then, as dies that are ready for encapsulation, a plunger engages, the mold compound material at a specific temperature and pressure to force the mold compound to conform to the die/carrier. Thus, the plunger must be precise when engaging the mold compound or else an improper pressure may result which leads to an integrated circuit package with an increased likelihood of failure.